Jannik Sinner says No, twice: Italian confronted by tedious Davis Cup controversy & World No. 1 battle with Carlos Alcaraz questions at Paris Masters

Jannik Sinner's pre-tournament press conference at the 2025 Paris Masters saw the Italian face two tedious lines of questioning, both of which got the same reaction. Sinner, recent champion at the ATP 500 event in Vienna, will start his campaign in Paris against Zizou Bergs.

In his press conference before that, the World No. 2 was asked about his decision to withdraw from the upcoming Davis Cup Finals. Although he led Italy to the last two Davis Cup titles, Sinner has announced he will not play this year in the Final-8, which has come under huge scrutiny in his home country of Italy.

Unfazed by the criticism, however, Jannik Sinner insisted in his press conference that he will not go back on his decision.

"No, the decision is made. But I said already everything about the thing some days ago," Jannik Sinner said.

Sinner was also asked about his World No. 1 battle with Carlos Alcaraz. Although he has a shot of overtaking Alcaraz at the Paris Masters if he wins and the Spaniard does not reach the semifinals, he is most likely to lose it before the end of the year.

This is because the Italian is the defending champion at the ATP Finals, meaning he cannot gain more points after that, even if he successfully defends the title. Alcaraz, therefore, is mathematically most likely the favorite to end the year as the World No. 1.

At his press conference, Sinner reiterated all that, stating that he has already given up thoughts on finishing the year as the No. 1 and will focus on ending the season as successfully as possible.

"No, it's impossible. Honestly, I'm not thinking about this at the moment. It's going to be a goal for next year. This year it's not in my hands. Let's say it like this," Sinner said.

"But considering how the whole year went, you know, we have achieved some incredible things. Now I just want to finish the season the best possible way. If I can do something great, amazing. If not, I did something great already this year," he added.

This year, Sinner and Alcaraz will be joined by the likes of Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals, with Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and others likely to complete the Final 8 in Turin.

"I'm very happy what I did this year" - Jannik Sinner

At the press conference, Jannik Sinner made it clear that even if he cannot end the year as the World No. 1, he was happy with all that he achieved this year. In 2025, Sinner won two Grand Slam titles -- the Australian Open and Wimbledon. He also won the Six Kings Slam, which gave him a $6 million prize money in Riyadh.

"I will try, for me as also last year was, December is going to be a very important month for me, because I feel like we can make a lot of changes and a lot of work there. Also getting ready for the next season and the beginning of the season, I know how important it is for me for many scenarios," Jannik Sinner said.

"So let's see what I can achieve and do there, but I'm relaxed. You know, I'm very happy what I did this year, and then we see what's coming. And that's it," he added.

Sinner has won two more titles this year so far, at the China Open and the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.